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I am back. Not that I’ve been anywhere really since my short treehouse stay; here all the time just bobbing along. Taking the rough with the smooth, the rain with the shine, and managing not to be blown away by the gale force winds. Dog dirt alley has gone from bog back to meadow, the river up over the jetty and back down again and life goes on merrily in boatbirdland.

I have been busy wrting another blog, which is health related and charts the ups and downs of digestive discomfort. It’s a very different place to this one and I wouldn’t go there unless you are a fellow sufferer, need something to thoroughly depress you or would enjoy a jolly good laugh at my expense. It’s just me bellyaching.

So that’s what I’ve been up to blog-wise and why I’ve not been here.

The superb weather over the last couple of days has inspired me** to set about some overdue Hobo type maintenance. Or we could just call it rust – something I’ve known about for a long time and hoped would go away – that eater of metal that, left untreated, will literally eat away my home.

** Or maybe it was John pointing this out and giving me the proverbial kick up the arse. Either way, it’s not a pretty sight and needs dealing with PDQ.

See what I mean…?

My biggest problem excuse has always been where to start – getting going is always the hardest bit – but I now have a plan. Bite size pieces, starting with the roof, and it will get finished eventually. So far I’ve chipped and scraped away the loose, flaky bits (already looking better) and am about to apply the rust treatment stuff before sanding, priming, undercoating and finally re-painting the roof. All 47ft of it. Then I can move on to the next thing – gunwales I think – and the next and the next and so on. Bit of a Forth Bridge excercise I suspect – as in ongoing. Forever and ever. Amen.

The stove has also had a re-paint and its chimney swept (first time I’ve been able to let the fire go out for ages) and very fine it looks too. I also had to replace the riddler plate, as you do from time to time, a job that is simple enough but is fiddly and requires just the right twist in the right place. It’s a flick of the wrist – easy peasey once you crack it – but only ever achieved just at that point when you are about to give up, go outside and scream and/or smash it to smithereens. At £35 a pop – not a good idea. Then all of a sudden it’s bish bosh bash and job’s a good un.

There was also the matter of the chimney being welded into place and completely unbudgeable (took a man with a hammer and a total disregard for decibel levels/poor Hobo’s feelings to free it). Also now de-tarred and sanded so can be removed easily, as it must be, for cruising.

So, I haven’t been idle. Actually, I’m at my happiest when busy and outside in the sunshine working on the boat – it just takes a shove to get me started. That said, the weather window is about to slam shut if I am to believe the Met Office. And I do when it brings bad news – they usually get that right.

I’ve lots more to tell you and plenty of pics to show off. Later. Now I must get cracking while the sun shines – tomorrow sounds like a day to be indoors so talk again then.